A family struggles to make it in America in Minari, the latest from writer/director Lee Isaac Chung.
You’ve probably been hearing about this one for a while. The drama about a Korean family moving to Arkansas to start a farm was the big hit out of Sundance, taking both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize while garnering some of the best reviews of the year. Granted, competition has been limited by downsized festivals and other pandemic-related factors, which also threw Minari’s official release up in the air. It seemed inevitable that it would come out this year, though, as you can’t wait too long after such a scintillating debut. We finally have an answer: it will be in theaters in New York and L.A. on December 11th with a nationwide rollout starting February 12th. It remains to be seen whether that will hold or not (the pandemic seems to change theatrical release plans daily), but at least we have a date for one of the most anticipated films of the year.
The movie has drawn praise both for its specificity and universality. Chung, it seems, has pulled loosely from his own childhood in rural America, transforming his experiences into a tale about being both an outsider as a Korean American and an insider as a devotee of the American dream. He built up to this complex material over several films, none of which saw a wide release, and now he seems poised to jump to the top of the pile of American filmmakers.
Also taking a big step forward in his career is Steven Yeun, who headlines as the patriarch of the family. He’s pivoted into more arthouse material after leaving the hit show The Walking Dead, and that combo of name recognition and prestige has him poised for an awards push. Co-starring with him is Yeri Han, Yuh-jung Youn, and Alan S. Kim.
But you probably knew all that already. The big news here is that we finally know when we can see what might be one of the best films of the year.
Minari is directed by Lee Isaac Chung and stars Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Yuh-jung Youn, and Alan S. Kim. In the US it will have a limited theatrical release on December 11th, 2020 with a wider release starting February 12th, 2021. For additional release dates, click here.
Will you check this one out? Let us know in the comments!
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